There aren’t many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who could make Kurt Busch look like a hero.

But Ryan Newman has.

Newman, winner of the Daytona 500, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing and teammate of Busch, one of the most despised drivers in the garage and the grandstands, has nothing but praise for Busch.

It was Busch’s “push from heaven” that catapulted Newman to winning the Daytona 500.

Newman calls Busch the perfect teammate, coming through at the perfect time.

“I think Kurt said it best, he was happy to see me in Victory Lane,” Newman said. “It was as if he won, even though he didn’t. If the roles were reversed, I would feel the same way.”

Things couldn’t be better at Penske Racing. But it wasn’t that long ago when things weren’t all that perfect.

When Rusty Wallace was Newman’s teammate, driving Busch’s No. 2 Dodge for the team, the tension was thicker than 30weight motor oil. There were times when it looked like Newman and Wallace didn’t share a mutual respect for each other and that made it difficult to be teammates.

When asked during California Speedway Day at Hollywood and Highland if he could expect that same kind of push from Wallace, Newman said, “I don’t know.”

“I would doubt it. Kurt did a excellent job as a teammate. It was unselfish.”

Those words, excellent and unselfish, are rarely used to describe Busch. A week before the Daytona 500, Busch and Tony Stewart tangled during practice for the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler, the hall of justice at the race track, where they were disciplined and consequently put on probation. Then there were reports that Stewart took a swing at Busch – and possibly even connected. Neither the drivers nor NASCAR officials have said what exactly, if anything, transpired during that hauler meeting.

“They got personal about it,” Newman said. “Outside of that, I think Kurt’s a great race car driver and obviously I think Tony’s a great race car driver.”

No reason to make enemies at this point, especially when Newman has Busch looking so good.

Busch, however, said his run-in with Stewart might have affected the outcome of the Daytona 500.

“I was doing what Kurt Busch needed to do to win the race,” Busch said. “And when a blue car (Newman’s) jumped up in front of me, like I said earlier, it was nice that it was my teammate and I was able to help that car win.

“Now, if the orange car (Stewart’s) jumped up in front of me, that was going to be my best opportunity to try to finish up in the top three. And so if he would have jumped up in front of us, I would have pushed him. He stayed low, and that gave the opportunity for Newman to jump up in front of us. So maybe he did think twice before he jumped up high, that it was me up there. Instead of worrying about who it was, he should have just went there.”

It looks like Busch had Newman’s back long before the last lap of the Daytona 500. It looks like Busch might have been in Stewart’s head, which was a much better place than being behind Newman’s car.

Busch has built a reputation for being a bit of a reckless driver with a short fuse and it has put him in some confrontational situations.

But not last weekend, not after being in the perfect place to give his teammate the biggest win of his Cup career.

After that push at Daytona, Busch has a new fan club president.

“Kurt gave me a great push, was the perfect teammate, the perfect time,” Newman said. “Sometimes it takes that.”

Sadler also drives a Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and he finished sixth in the Daytona 500, one of six Dodges in the top eight in the race.

But when asked if he was more excited to see a Dodge win the Daytona 500 or Wake Forest beat Duke, Sadler said it was “tit for tat.”

“I was pretty excited when after the race I found out how bad Wake Forest had beat Duke and that all five starters for Duke fouled out of the game,” said Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. “I like Ryan Newman. He’s a great guy, but I was very, very excited to see Wake Forest beat Duke.”

Dodge had a great showing in the Daytona 500, but Sadler said he isn’t reading too much into that one race. He expects the Hendrick Motorsports drivers will still be strong. He expects the Toyota teams will be stronger. And he said the next three races will be a great indicator of which teams have improved and which ones will struggle.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle for all the Dodge teams this year,” Sadler said. “We’re trying to work together a lot more. Yes, we all ran very well at the Daytona 500, but that does not say that we have gotten where we need to be.”

The California Speedway race will be a good test, Sadler said. He won a Cup race at Fontana when he was with Robert Yates Racing and driving a Ford.

It was the first Labor Day weekend race at the track and it solidified his spot in the Chase, the 10-race playoff to determine the Cup champion.

That was three years ago, too long ago, Sadler lamented.

“I feel like I got to get better at certain race tracks,” Sadler said. “I need to be better at California. Yeah, we did win there, but not run that well since that win. I got to be better at California. I got to understand more what my car wants.”

One factor in his favor is that Kasey Kahne, his teammate at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, won a race at California Speedway in 2006.

“Fortunately I got a teammate that runs very well at California,” Sadler said. “My first time in the 19 car at California, my teammate won. I’m going to lean on Kasey a bit when I get there.”

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